Choosing The Perfect Kitchen Floor

Kitchen Tiles and Flooring for 2022

We all know it, kitchens are the heart of every home and your Kitchen floor is one of the biggest and most important decisions when designing your kitchen! We cannot over exaggerate the importance of kitchen design and giving thought to the function & detail. Taking time to plan a well-executed kitchen space will have you reaping the rewards for years.

Functionality is key, kitchens are heavily used spaces so take time in choosing tiles or timber flooring for your kitchen that will be easy to clean and maintain (because it is costly to change) while remembering that it should also reflect personality. 

Tiled Kitchen Floors 

There’s plenty of floor tiles to choose from depending on the look that you want to achieve. Choose a stone effect floor tile for a natural feel. An added bonus of stone effect floor tiles is that they are super easy to maintain. Choosing the style of floor tile depends on the look you want to achieve. 

Sharp rectified edges as pictured below are great for a more industrial or modern kitchen style. 

While softer edge stone effect tiles are more suited to a softer country kitchen style. These look fantastic in the modular format for a more traditional appeal, as you can see below. For a softer contemporary look, choose one size tile.

Choosing a neutral coloured tile with a simplistic design will give you the freedom to easily update your Kitchen over the years by doing simple things like introducing colour. Green is a key colour currently trending in kitchens. Teamed with accents of brass, and a simple and neutral tiled floor, you will be on to a winner!

Wood Kitchen Floors

Looking for something a little more warm and cosy? There is no rule to say you can’t put a timber floor in your kitchen. In fact, Grain & Groove owners, Fergal & Suzie have a timber floor in their own kitchen. If that’s not testament to the quality and durability of a timber floor nothing is! Keep in mind that tiles will always trump timber floors when it comes to maintenance… but looking at the pictures below, we think it’s worth it! 

Wood flooring gives a cosy natural feel to your kitchen but it also pairs well with bolder and darker colours. You can opt for a dark wood floor and dark cabinets for a dramatic effect, or a natural wood floor as pictured below, with a darker cabinet to keep the room feeling cosy but bright.

Flooring and Open Plan Living

One of the most common questions we get asked is regarding open plan living. Do you put a break in the floor in an open plan area? Tiles in the kitchen area and timber floor in the living areas? 

Of course, the answer is both are possible. The main point here is to plan ahead. You will need to make sure the depth of your tile and timber floor can work together for a seamless transition.

To do this, you may need to raise the floor level in the tiled area slightly. Not a big job but one that your builder will need to be aware of. See the below picture of terrazzo meeting a herringbone floor. This is the perfect example of how well it can work. No clunky joiner bars here! 

This can be a great option for those who want a wooden floor in an open plan space but want a low maintenance floor tile in the kitchen area. 

Timber Effect Wood Flooring 

Love the look of timber but really feel like you don’t want the maintenance? Then a timber effect tile is for you! 

Made from porcelain, there’s so many options available now that look so good! Even a well-trained eye can be fooled into thinking they are the real McCoy. Love a herringbone floor? Choose a small format tile and they can be fit as herringbone too. 

Tiles are always going to be less expensive than a real timber floor so this is definitely an advantage. First time buyers will love to hear this when they are looking for affordable quality flooring and as we mentioned, they are a lower maintenance option! 

 

Kitchen Floors and Colour Schemes 

Kitchen planning doesn’t start and end with the flooring, so keep in mind that timber flooring and wood effect tiles both look amazing with green kitchen schemes. Think of a tree – it’s the most natural colour scheme when you see it in nature. If wood flooring (timber or tile) is what you decide on, green is always a good match! 

Have a look at the all-wood kitchen trend from Architectural Digest. This is about as nature inspired as it gets. The most important thing to remember with this look is the use of natural materials. Choose an engineered oak floor, ideally in a slightly contrasting colour to your kitchen units. It is important that the timber has a few visible knots and grain for full effect! If you love this look but would like a more contemporary take on it, herringbone could also work very well. 

Pattern Kitchen Tiles for floors and walls

When it comes to pattern, it is best to stick to either pattern floor tiles or pattern wall tiles, but generally not both in the one area (unless you have eclectic taste and are not afraid to make bold statements!)

Choose a pattern you are drawn to and pull colours from it to create your scheme like the subtle Greenway Teal scheme from our Original Style collection. 

If you decide to go for tiled walls, you have a few different pattern options. Plain subway tiles can give you so many patterns. That’s right! You can lay plain subway tiles in lots of different ways .This is a great link with plenty of inspo on what can be done! 

Grain & Groove’s Tribecca subway tiles shown here are a perfect example of how to introduce subtle pattern into your kitchen tiles. Alternatively choose a different tile like our Lume range and you have a splash of colour and pattern!

Always Remember These Three Tips for Designing your Kitchen…

1. The key trends in kitchens are a fantastic guideline to what’s hot right now but use this information wisely. 
2. It is more sustainable as well as practical to choose flooring that you absolutely love rather than it being a trend.
3. Choose styles to match your taste whether it’s boho, traditional, modern, country home, minimalist!